Within the Dragon's Jaw (The Dragon Thief Book 2) Read online

  The priest shoved him toward the temple.

  Ty glanced to both sides, looking for anybody who might be out. If somebody could see him, he could shout. Maybe that would distract the priest long enough that he could grab his dragon-bone dagger and cut himself to freedom.

  The priest was too strong.

  Ty was forced forward.

  They reached the entrance to the old temple, where the priest pushed ahead of Ty, releasing his arms. He pulled back his cloak just enough for him to see a crossbow with a pale white handle hanging there. “Open it.”

  So much for fighting my way free. With a crossbow, he didn’t have to be all that skilled. He just had to point and shoot.

  His dragon-bone dagger could’ve offered him a little bit of a benefit, but he would have to time it right. Ty tested the door. Unlike the rest of the building, the door leading into the temple was made of smooth wood, likely harvested from inside the jungle, and it had been stained a black inky color that matched the lava rock. He had expected the door to be locked and was disappointed to learn that it was not.

  They stepped inside. It was dark, musty, and a single source of light provided illumination. The inside of the temple was circular, and the roof slightly domed, giving it something of an appearance of the old lava tube, but there was also a hint of heat that radiated through here, a reminder of the Flame. The air was stale, and he tried not to suck in too sharp of a breath, though he still needed to find some way out.

  “What do you intend to do to me in here?”

  “Quiet,” he snapped.

  He stepped forward, unsheathed his dragon-bone dagger, and spun toward the priest. He was a moment too slow. The crossbow pointed directly at him.

  “Now we will have a quiet conversation.”

  Ty looked for some opportunity to get free. “Quiet? If that’s why you brought me here, we could have done that on the street.”

  The priest shoved him forward. “You are going to give me the answers I need or you will find just how much that Flame burns.”

  Ty swept his gaze around the inside of the temple. Much like the outside, the inside was fairly simple. A single Flame rose from the center of it, encircled by more of the same black lava rock. It illuminated the interior of the temple, though not brightly enough. It reminded him of what he had seen in the larger temple, though this one left him feeling a smaller connection to the Flame.

  He needed to pick his moment carefully. Maybe he could put the Flame in between himself and the attacker, and only when he did that might he be able to find a way to escape.

  The priest—or whatever he was—watched him, seemingly waiting for him to make his move. “Where is it?”

  Ty frowned. “Where is what?”

  “Don’t play with me, boy. We know your brother left you something.”

  Boy?

  Ty shook his head. “He didn’t leave me anything. Do you understand he’s now imprisoned?”

  The man pulled his hood back and sneered at him. He had black hair, flat gray eyes, and a protruding forehead. Not a priest, at least not a priest like Ty had seen before. Then again, given his attack, Ty wasn’t surprised that this man wasn’t a priest. He might have some adornments like many of the Priests of the Flame, but they were nothing more than decoration.

  “I understand exactly where he is. Now where is the item he left for you?”

  That was what this was about?

  When Albion had been in the city, he hadn’t left Ty anything, at least as far as he had known. At the time, he hadn’t known that he was the Dragon Thief though, so he hadn’t paid attention. Could he have snuck something into Ty’s home? If he had, Ty might not even have known. The Dragon Thief—the real Dragon Thief—would have been far more skilled than Ty at breaking in. Ty had some skill, but nothing like what he’d heard stories of. Certainly nothing like the rumors of the Dragon Thief.

  “What exactly do you think he gave me?”

  The man took a step toward him, pointing the crossbow aggressively.

  Ty jumped back, holding out the dragon-bone knife. That served him for coming alone. He should have brought somebody. Even Olivia would have helped.

  “You will find that I am not a patient person.”

  “Why use the decoration of a priest to do this? You could be anything.”

  “Ask your brother.”

  He brought the crossbow up, pointed at Ty, and fired.

  Ty dropped, rolling off to the side, and nearly crashed into the stone surrounding the Flame. He jumped to his feet, holding the dragon-bone dagger, and pointed it at the man. The priest reloaded his crossbow, moving slowly, cautiously, but keeping the door positioned behind him, making it difficult for Ty to reach.

  He watched him, saying nothing as he reloaded the crossbow.

  How do I get out of here?

  Ty thought about what he would need to do, the argument he might need to make, or perhaps even how he might be able to escape, but no answer came to him. This wasn’t anything he was accustomed to doing. He was a thief, a good one, but he was out of his element here. Whoever his brother had interacted with must have been even more dangerous.

  Ty had heard the stories of the Dragon Thief. They were rumors, impossible to believe, about things that his brother had accomplished that seemed nearly overwhelming. The idea that Albion had been the Dragon Thief was shocking to him. The jobs that the Dragon Thief had done had been impossibly dangerous, but Albion…

  Ty circled around, keeping the Flame in front of him, and tried to think about his options. He could throw himself at this man, but he would need to wait until he fired the next crossbow bolt. He had nearly finished reloading, so Ty wouldn’t have a lot of time, but he thought he had enough. Maybe he could use the dragon-bone dagger in a way he wouldn’t expect.

  “At least tell me what you think he took.”

  The man aimed the crossbow at him.

  Ty dropped, keeping the Flame in front of him, though he did so with barely enough time. Another bolt went whizzing over his head.

  Ty sprang forward and darted toward the man.

  He stood calmly.

  That wasn’t good.

  At the last second, Ty dropped, swinging one leg around, hooking it toward the priest’s leg. It caught, connecting with the back of his knee, bending it inward. He brought one arm around, stabbing with the dragon-bone dagger.

  The priest crossed his arms in front of him, blocking, and then twisted. The priest was stronger than he looked. Ty brought his knee up, connecting with the priest’s belly. Thankfully, it elicited a grunt out of him. He rolled off to the side, but the priest was still blocking his exit.

  He needed to keep him from getting another crossbow bolt loaded, so he darted forward, lowering his shoulder as he tried to slam into him.

  The priest kicked out as he neared. Ty spun out of the way, and he once again swung his leg up, trying to sweep away from him. The priest stumbled.

  Ty used that movement; he went running.

  When he reached the door, Ty pulled on it and found he’d locked it. He looked back to see how far away the priest was.

  The priest grinned at him. “It sounds like you truly don’t know the extent of your brother’s involvement. Unfortunately, this is the end of your usefulness.”

  He loaded another crossbow bolt.

  Ty would have to pick the lock on the door, but he didn’t know if he could do it quickly enough. The priest would only give him a moment, maybe a few at most, before the crossbow fired.

  Ty tried a different approach. He jammed the dragon-bone dagger into the lock.

  Dragon-bone daggers, knives, and even swords—though those were rare—were incredibly sharp, and the blades were notoriously hard to break. By shoving it into the lock, he hoped that he might buy himself a moment, nothing more than that, but hopefully enough that he wouldn’t have to worry about being caught.

  Ty twisted the dagger. The lock popped open.

  He slammed his shoulder against
the door and went racing out of the temple.

  When he reached the street, he hazarded a glance back.

  The priest—or whatever he was—stood there, the crossbow elevated in his hands, and then he fired. Ty rolled, barely avoiding the crossbow bolt as it streaked over his head, and he raced along the street.

  Chapter Four

  He couldn’t go home, which was no longer a safe place to stay. The man knew where he lived and had proven that he was skilled enough to break in without disturbing anything. Ty didn’t feel comfortable going back there. He didn’t have many other options. Bingham might take him in, but Ty wasn’t sure that he wanted to go to him. Eastley was a possibility, but that involved putting himself into Eastley’s debt and trying to find his home, something that Ty wasn’t even sure that he could do. Olivia…

  Ty wasn’t going to go there either.

  Still, there were a few things he needed out of his home.

  It was probably better to collect them now rather than to wait too much longer. If he gave the priest an opportunity to regroup, how many people would they send at him?

  He jogged along the street, jumping at every moving shadow, startled by everything around him, until he came to the main thoroughfare leading through the city. The temple for the Priests of the Flame loomed in view.

  The priests were tolerated but not embraced by the ghost king, though Ty had never seen any behaving like common criminals. Or uncommon, as the case might’ve been. Of course, he would never have expected that his brother, seemingly serving the Priests of the Flame, would be the Dragon Thief.

  Ty hurried along the street, sweeping his gaze around. There wasn’t any considerable movement, but he couldn’t shake the strange feeling that there was something out here, some element that reminded him of the strangeness of the priest and whatever he was after.

  As he neared his home, a door opened and a familiar face poked out.

  “Ty,” Henry said. His graying hair was wild today, and his eyes carried a serious expression in them, a look of concern for him. “You look like you’re troubled. Can I help you with anything?”

  “Henry,” he started, looking over his shoulder, worried the priest would be there. “I think you need to get back inside. It’s not safe for you to be out here.”

  “Not safe? Why would that be?”

  “Henry—”

  Henry took a step out into the street and slipped his arm around Ty’s shoulders. “I can help, Ty.”

  He smiled at him. Henry and his wife Mary had been friendly to him ever since he had moved in near them.

  They were a kindly elderly couple, and as far as Ty had known they had lived in the city and in this home for their entire lives. “I need you to get out of the street, Henry. Something is taking place and I don’t really know what it is. The city isn’t safe right now, anyway.”

  “There are enough soldiers patrolling through the streets that I’m not terribly concerned about my safety here, Ty.”

  He wanted to argue, but Henry wasn’t wrong.

  It should be safe.

  The fact that this priest—or whoever he was—thought that it was reasonable to target him so brazenly with as many soldiers and possible Dragon Touched in the city suggested that they were powerful, or that they simply were desperate.

  “I’m just here to gather a few things. Could you keep watch for me?”

  Henry smiled and stopped in the doorway.

  He hurried inside his home and began looking for what he needed.

  His cabinets were filled with the wine that he preferred, and he didn’t like the idea of leaving it behind, but at this point he didn’t have much of a choice. If everything worked out for him, he would return. There were certain things that he couldn’t leave here.

  As he looked around his home, there was a part of him that struggled with the idea of leaving anything here. It was strange, as he was mostly concerned about finding his parents and what happened to them, and even with what happened to Albion, but this had become his home. When Ishantil threatened to erupt, Ty had thought that he would have to leave here for good, and had begun to come to terms with it. After stopping the eruption, he still hadn’t fully come to terms with anything. He still hadn’t decided if he could stay. If he should stay.

  He hurried to the back room and began to pull up floorboards.

  There was a collection of dragon pearls here that he had taken from the temple. The priest knew how to find his home. He couldn’t leave them.

  Strange it took this to get him to abandon his home. Ishantil threatening to erupt hadn’t fully done that.

  Ty gathered the pearls into a small satchel, tucking them against his side. The dragon pearls were heavy enough that they weighed down the satchel, making them difficult to carry without risking them spilling. He wrapped a length of silk around the satchel, trying to bind it together so that it didn’t rip, but even with that Ty wasn’t sure if it would secure it well enough.

  When he was done, he checked the other floorboards he’d moved away, looking for anything else of value here. He tried not to keep much of value. Coins at one point, though now he kept markers for the banks where he had deposited them. After reclaiming those markers, Ty stuffed them into his pocket and then headed toward the door.

  There was no sign of Henry.

  He poked his head toward the window, looking out for a moment, but he still didn’t see any sign of Henry.

  If he intended to watch, then he knew he would watch.

  Unless the priest had come.

  Ty headed back to the bedroom and stood on the bed, popping open a hatch in the ceiling and crawling through. He closed it before crawling across the rooftop. Once there, he flattened himself down and looked out into the night.

  There was still no sign of Henry.

  Maybe Mary had come outside and warned him to leave Ty alone. Of course, knowing the two of them, Mary likely would’ve joined Henry standing outside, thinking they both needed to keep guard.

  Ty reached for the dragon-bone dagger.

  There was no one on the street, nothing to suggest he needed to be concerned for Henry. For that matter, there were lights on inside Henry’s home.

  Henry was fine.

  He relaxed, but then saw a slumped figure down the street.

  That wasn’t the only figure down the ways. There was another darkened figure near the corner, near the intersection, and as Ty turned in the opposite direction, he noticed still another.

  Henry?

  Ty slipped along the rooftop and then dropped to the street. He darted forward, hurrying to the slumped-over figure, and found Henry lying there.

  There was no obvious injury.

  “Go,” Henry moaned. “They don’t care about me.”

  “I can’t leave you here.”

  “Mary will gather me. Get moving.”

  He had to get Henry out of the street.

  Better yet, he had to lead these other figures away so that they didn’t harm him.

  Ty stood, facing two figures converging on him, and then darted toward the nearest one. The man shifted, pulling something out from beneath his cloak.

  A crossbow.

  Why are they all armed with crossbows?

  Henry started crawling, getting to the side of the street. At least he’d be safe.

  Now he had to get to safety.

  Ty barreled toward the figure with the crossbow, racing as quickly as he could, keeping his shoulder down, and was prepared to slam into him. The figure twisted off to the side and he flicked the dragon-bone knife just a little bit, his wrist snapping as he drove it toward the man’s arm, and was rewarded with a soft grunt.

  He turned quickly, kicking him in the backside and sending him staggering down the road. Ty ran, clutching the satchel with the dragon pearls, and when he rounded the corner, a painful sting erupted in his shoulder.

  He was afraid of what that meant, afraid of what would happen if he took even a moment to assess for possible injuries. A
t this point, he had to keep moving. His shoulder hurt, but he knew better than to take any time to deal with it. All he needed to do was keep running.

  Ty found the satchel weighing heavily on his arm.

  He had to get out of the street. He had to get to help.

  He looked along the street, trying to figure out where he was and who was closest.

  There were few people in the city who might be able to help him. There was somebody nearby, but would Maeve be willing to take him in?

  Ty had not seen the old woman for the better part of four years, ever since he had gone into a different line of business. Maeve had offered him something more reputable, an opportunity to learn herbs and medicines and a chance for something better for himself, but he had ignored it.

  He reached one of the side streets, stumbling onto it. When he came to Maeve’s darkened home, he hammered on the door. The sound would be loud enough to draw the attention of others on the street, but hopefully the old woman would be home. More than that, he hoped she would welcome Ty.

  Was that movement from the far end of the street?

  Ty shook his head, trying to focus. The pain blooming in his shoulder made it difficult, though he knew that he would need to try to come up with some way to clear his mind.

  So many people had evacuated the city that he didn’t know if Maeve might've done the same. He didn’t think she would, or if she had, he doubted that she would’ve stayed away. Many of the people who had evacuated were starting to return. And Maeve had lived here for as long as Henry and Mary had lived in their home.

  He pounded on the door again, and finally a light came on inside.

  Ty looked along the street, but there was no sign of any of the attackers, no sign of anybody coming toward him. That still didn’t put Ty at complete ease. He had barely seen anybody before, and Henry had been watching out for him too. Henry was usually careful enough to avoid detection.

  As movement came toward the door, Ty pounded again.

  The door came open and a wrinkled face looked out at him. Maeve had her gray hair bundled up into a bun, and she had on a thin shift, suited to the heat and humidity of the day. “Tydornen? Is that you?”